North American carnivore mammal comeback

This video is about fisher “cats”.

By Meghan Kavanaugh, Valley Breeze Staff Writer in Rhode Island, USA:

10/3/2012

Once nearly extinct, fisher cat population increasing

LINCOLN – Centuries ago, when forests were cleared for farming, fisher cats were virtually extinct in New England.

The name “fisher cat” is misleading, as these animals are martens, not felines. They are called “fishers” as well (though they usually don’t eat fish, but land animals).

But as Lincoln resident Tracey Chartier discovered while walking her dog in her Highland Street back yard last week, the critters are back, and their population is increasing.

Chartier spent days in the hospital and received shots for rabies after her bare foot was bitten when she tried to shoo what she thought was a raccoon away from her dog.

She later identified the animal as a fisher, a black- or brown-colored relative of the weasel that can measure between 36 and 48 inches long, and weigh between 4 and 15 pounds.

Charlie Brown, wildlife biologist for the Department of Environmental Management Division of Fish and Wildlife, said the animals have become more populated throughout all of southern New England over the past several decades, though he said it is impossible to know a specific population number.

While they may have died out around Rhode Island, source populations remained in New York, Maine and New Hampshire. They gradually repopulated themselves and traveled throughout the region around the 1980s, he said, especially to the Providence, Kent and Washington counties.

There have been no reintroduction programs led by humans to get them back, he said. Genetics testing, done after each fisher is killed by a car or trapper, have confirmed that most Rhode Island fishers come from the White Mountains area of New Hampshire, Brown said.

There are more forests than farms in the state today, he said, making for suitable habitats.

Fishers eat mostly small mammals, like grey and red squirrels and birds, but Brown also called them scavengers as they forage for fruits and vegetables, as well. They have also been known to steal pet food and trash from yards.

Licensed trappers have been allowed to harvest a limited number of fishers since 2000, Brown said, but the species is otherwise protected, as are all furbearers.

“They are an important component of the ecosystem,” Brown said.

As such, he explained that their population is regulated by the population of their prey and the size of their habitat, which may be shrinking with development projects.

“So who knows where we’re going to be in 25 to 50 years?” Brown said. “They’re only going to be where there’s available habitat.”

Plant-eating mammals sport bigger bellies than meat eaters. Body cavity volume of 126 animals shows herbivores have larger bellies than carnivores. By Emily DeMarco, 7:00am, November 30, 2016: here.